The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) has become the standard for network management. Network management systems utilizing SNMP contain two primary elements: a manager and agents. The Manager is the console through which the network administrator performs network management functions. Agents are the entities that interface to the actual device being managed. Hubs, bridges, routers and servers are examples of managed devices that contain managed objects. These managed objects might contain hardware inventory data, configuration parameters, and performance statistics that directly relate to the current operation of the device. These objects are arranged in what is known as a management information base (MIB). Each managed object has an object identifier (OID). SNMP allows managers and agents to communicate for the purpose of accessing these objects.
With the embracing of SNMP by network device vendors, the amount of MIB data contained in an organization's information technology (IT) department has become so large that isolating useful management information requires a fair degree of knowledge, expertise, and time. As a result, much of the SNMP instrumentation developed by device vendors, and the resulting network management capabilities, are not utilized by the typical IT professional.
As such, many typical network management systems suffer from deficiencies in providing easy access to and use of management information. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved method and apparatus for collecting and displaying network device information.